Passenger Restraint With Shoulder Belt Positioning System

Abstract

A passenger restraint has a lap belt and a shoulder belt. The lap belt extends across the lap between a vehicular bracket and a buckle which is secured to the vehicle. A shoulder belt extends from the buckle to an elevated vehicular bracket. A flexible positioning and retaining band encircles both belts in the lap area and is slidable on a generally horizontal axis across the lap of the user to hold the lap belt and shoulder belt proximate to one another between the band and the buckle. The lap belt and shoulder belt diverge at the band such that the shoulder belt extends upwardly to the elevated vehicular bracket at an angle determined by the lateral position of the band that has been selected. The band has a surface texture at least on the side that engages the belts to provide sufficient friction between the band and the belts so that the band remains in the location thereon that is selected by the user to maintain the shoulder belt in a comfortable position that does not chafe the user's body. The band can have overlapped ends secured together by a releasable fastening means such as a hook-and-loop Velcro® fastener on opposite surfaces.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A passenger restraint for a vehicle, comprising: 
 a lap belt and a shoulder belt, said lap belt extending from a first vehicular anchoring point to a buckle and said shoulder belt extending from said buckle to an elevated vehicular anchoring point, a flexible positioning and retaining band formed into a loop for encircling both of the belts in a lap area and being slidable on a generally horizontal axis extending from right to left across the lap of the user to hold the belts proximate to one another between the band and the buckle,    said belts diverging from one another on the opposite side of the band from the buckle such that the shoulder belt extends upwardly and diagonally to said elevated vehicular anchoring point and the lap belt extends laterally from the band to the first vehicular anchoring point,    said band has a surface texture at least on a side thereof in contact with the belts to provide sufficient friction with the belts such that the band remains in a position thereon that is selected by the user to maintain an angle of inclination of the shoulder belt that is comfortable for the user and in which the shoulder belt does not chafe the neck or other parts of the body of the user.    
     
     
         2 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  wherein the positioning and retaining band is a strap having a pair of ends and a releasable fastener means is provided at least at the ends of the strap for securing the ends of the strap to one another in selected positions to vary the diameter of the loop forming said band.  
     
     
         3 . The passenger restraint of  claim 2  wherein the releasable fastener means comprises a hook-and-loop fastener.  
     
     
         4 . The passenger restraint of  claim 3  wherein the hook-and-loop fastener comprises a sheet of hook material connected to one surface of said strap proximate to one end thereof and a sheet of loop material connected to the opposite side of said strap proximate an opposite end thereof.  
     
     
         5 . The passenger restraint of  claim 3  wherein the hook-and-loop fastener comprises a sheet of hook material covering the entire surface of said strap proximate to one end thereof and a sheet of loop material covering the entire opposite side of said strap.  
     
     
         6 . The passenger restraint of  claim 3  wherein said hook-and-loop fastener comprises hook material on opposite surfaces of the strap proximate opposite ends thereof and loop material secured on opposite sides of the strap at the center thereof.  
     
     
         7 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  wherein the band is a strap having a pair of ends and the ends are permanently secured in overlapping relationship to form said band into a loop of a fixed diameter.  
     
     
         8 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  wherein the band comprises a flexible strap selected from the group consisting of woven belting fabric, leather, plastic and non-woven material, and the strap has dimensions on the order of about one inch wide by about eight inches in length.  
     
     
         9 . The passenger restraint of  claim 8  wherein the strap has a releasable fastener on one side of one end thereof comprising hook material about one inch in width by about three inches in length and on the opposite side of the opposite end thereof a strip of loop fabric of about one inch in width and three inches in length, and remaining portions of the surface of the strap being devoid of the releasable fastening material.  
     
     
         10 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  wherein the band has a pair of separable ends that are secured together by means of snaps, buttons and buttonholes, or a zipper.  
     
     
         11 . The passenger restraint of  claim 7  wherein the ends of the strap are secured together by a permanent fastening selected from the group consisting of sewing, stitching, gluing, stapling and heat sealing.  
     
     
         12 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  wherein the band comprises a strap to form at least one loop of an adjustably selected size to encircle the lap belt and the shoulder belt.  
     
     
         13 . The passenger restraint according to  claim 1  wherein the band includes two loops including an upper loop enclosing the shoulder belt and a lower loop enclosing the lap belt.  
     
     
         14 . The restraint of  claim 13  wherein each of the loops is adjustable in size.  
     
     
         15 . The restraint of  claim 14  wherein an end portion of each of the loops is releasably connected to a portion of the band by a releasable fastener, and each of the loops in the band encircles one of the belts.  
     
     
         16 . A passenger restraint for a vehicle having a lap belt and a shoulder belt, said lap belt extending from a first vehicular anchoring point to a buckle and said shoulder belt extending from said buckle to an elevated vehicular anchoring point, said restraint including: 
 a flexible positioning and retaining band formed into a loop for encircling both of the belts in a lap area and being slidable on a generally horizontal axis extending from right to left across the lap of the user to hold the belts proximate to one another between the band and the buckle,    said belts diverging from one another on the opposite side of the band from the buckle such that the shoulder belt extends upwardly and diagonally to said elevated vehicular anchoring point and the lap belt extends laterally from the band to the first vehicular anchoring point,    said band has a surface texture at least on a side thereof in contact with the belts to provide sufficient friction with the belts such that the band remains in a position thereon that is selected by the user to maintain an angle of inclination of the shoulder belt that is comfortable for the user and in which the shoulder belt does not chafe the neck or other parts of the body of the user.    
     
     
         17 . The passenger restraint of  claim 16  wherein the positioning and retaining band is a strap having a pair of ends and a releasable fastener means is provided at least at the ends of the strap for securing the ends of the strap to one another in selected positions to vary the diameter of the loop forming said band.  
     
     
         18 . The passenger restraint of  claim 17  wherein the releasable fastener means comprises a hook-and-loop fastener.  
     
     
         19 . The passenger restraint of  claim 16  wherein the band is a strap having a pair of ends and the ends are permanently secured in overlapping relationship to form said band into a loop of a fixed diameter.  
     
     
         20 . The restraint of  claim 13  wherein one of said loops encircles one of the belts and has an end portion that is permanently secured to a portion of said band and the remaining portion of said band defines an extending portion that has a releasable fastening means between a free end thereof and an adjacent portion of the band to form a releasable and removable loop that encircles another one of said belts.  
     
     
         21 . The passenger restraint of  claim 20  wherein the releasable fastening means comprises a hook-and-loop fastener.  
     
     
         22 . The passenger restraint of  claim 19  wherein the size of the buckle is related to the size of the loop in the band, with the loop being smaller than the buckle so that the band cannot slide over the buckle.  
     
     
         23 . The passenger restraint of  claim 1  also including a means as a part of the passenger restraint for maintaining the band  11  connected to the belt while remaining slidable thereon.  
     
     
         24 . The passenger restraint of  claim 16  also including a means as a part of the passenger restraint for maintaining the band  11  connected to the belt while remaining slidable thereon.